I chose this theme five years ago
Inky blue sky and far away planets
Daring new steps my inauguration
Quote on “About” gave me fair warning
Step into a river and do not expect
The same current twice
My river bore me along for a while
Waves of bright memories transformed into words
Poetry sprang singing from deep hidden well
Then drought drained inspiration
I’m back where I started but oddly ahead
Brand New Day once again.
Dark and frigid dawn
Coldest of the year and yet
Crescent moon beams glow
Later on the sun
Very welcome imposter
Called me out to play
Been orbiting in circumstance of motherhood
Bound in love to three sons now adult
With wives, children, houses in their care
Problems with mortgages, lost jobs and health
Now my time to listen and support
Share my hard-earned wisdom gained
When I was fifty as now they are
This orbit an amazing gift to me
To know my sons as men they have become
To tell uncensored struggles I battled through
Reveal their parents in stark honesty
To be friends with boundaries
Love exchanged and trust secured
I’m back home my muse returned to me
Five foot high jade plant
Grows old in my barber’s shop
Fertile ancestor
Customers like me
Modern Johnny Appleseeds
Take cuttings to root
Mine grew strong and tall
Reaching for the bright sunlight
Then it took a bow
Quite ungainly now
It required a scissor’s trim
Made jade feel at home
There were not a thousand people
The loaves were Kashi bars
But two souls were enough
To make a parable alive
My scheduled transportation
Was woefully behind
I feared I’d never make it
For my appointment time
The Senior Transportation
Called my doctor to report
Their snarled-up situation
With a promise I’d get there
My driver finally showed
I hopped in and we sped off
I arrived there the very time
My appointment was to end
When Dan my driver dropped me off
He said with warmth and cheer
Now he could get some lunch
And all because of me
My doctor’s visit over
Dan came to take me home
Puzzled I inquired what he had for lunch
He said he’d bought a drink
The one dollar contribution
Passengers hand over for our rides
Could not have bought a proper meal
Surely Dan was hungry still
My purse contained two Kashi bars
A snack I carry “just in case”
With great delight shared by us both
I put them in Dan’s hands.
I’ve long made monetary gifts
To feed the hungry everywhere
No gift touched my soul like this
And paid me back a thousand-fold
January day
Dull gray clouds obscure the sky
Too warm for jeweled snow
Will it thus be so
World unrecognizable
In aeons ahead?
The other day as the word game ladies and I were playing our ever-fascinating game our friend Thelma joined us. She sat down next to me and asked about the frozen dinners she had left for me in my freezer. It was a totally unreal moment! I had begun to despair of ever unravelling the mystery.
My first question was how had she gotten into my apartment. Thelma replied that she rang my bell and then knocked. When I didn’t answer she turned the knob and found my door unlocked. She walked in and put the bag of meatloaf dinners in my freezer. OK. Then I asked her why she had brought me the meatloaf dinners. She told me that since our word game friend Mary had entered Hospice and moved into a nursing home, her daughter Carol was in the process of cleaning out her mother’s apartment. Carol found the frozen dinners and wondered what to do with them. Thelma had stopped by to help Carol and suggested that I might like the dinners. She knew that Mary and I share a love of Lean Cuisine and offered to take them to me. So Thelma put them in my freezer intending to let me know they were from Mary but forgot as she moved on with her day. If I had not just come from shopping and was putting away groceries when I found the mysterious blue bag of meatloaf dinners, I might not have been so unsettled and also sure that there was no way I had put the dinners in my freezer. I am relieved to know that I did not, and will continue to count on myself to remove groceries from the plastic bags before putting them away. Now I have a new action to worry about that I was certain I would never do. I would have sworn that I always lock my door when I leave home.
